He Only Wants You Dead
by DemonsFury
Summary: Echo, a demon trying desperately to correct wrongs she's done in her past.This year's Dark Tournament is around the corner, and Koenma can't wait to get his hands on a criminal who has been hiding for two years.Rated M for themes and language.
1. Survivors

Author Speak: Hey everyone, I had this story up before, but I found a lot of inconsistencies and errors, so I fixed them and reposted. If you have read this story before, then you may like to read it again, many things have been changed. This new version should also be a lot easier to read. Thanks a bunch, also, please review, flames accepted.

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me. The character Zel belongs to SilentDignity who writes Inuyasha fanfiction (Check her out). All other characters BELONG TO ME, and so do most of the ideas (some ideas where helped greatly by SilentD)

_Two years ago, there was a terrible crime committed against the Takuya family. The loving mother and father of Knox, Nyx, Styx and Trix were brutally murdered by a fellow demon. Trix, being ten at the time and youngest of the siblings, witnessed the murder, but cannot remember the killers face. The only thing she could say about the murderer was the attack the demon used, Shadow Fire. The personalities of the four siblings changed radically as they had to take care of themselves and handle the loss of their parents._

_A month after the murder, the youngest sibling, Trix, sensed that somebody was outside and had suffered heartbreak. Her brothers wouldn't let her go alone and followed her into the clouded night. Not far from their house was a demon, but this demon was odd. It was crumpled against a tree, crying. This demon called herself Echo, and somehow Trix knew this demon had been torn apart from the inside and wouldn't allow her to suffer. She begged her brothers to help this broken girl. This lead to the orphaned demons letting Echo live with them and become part of their family, but a lot changes in a couple years._

The kitchen was filled with the normal sounds of sibling fights, in fact the only one missing breakfast this morning was Echo, and none of the siblings dared wake her up. She might have been weak and crying when they found her two years ago, but now, she was cold and near emotionless, mercy was even gone from her mind. When in training she often pushed someone too far. Luckily, Trix was a healer, and a very good one at that. The only time nobody could deny the fact she had feelings was when she slept. Echo would wake up screaming some mornings, then try to act like nothing happened.

Nyx put a small bowl of applesauce in the middle of the table and went back to making pancakes. Knox looked over at Trix then back at the applesauce. A smile widened on Trix's face as she saw what her brother was planning. Knox silently reached for his spoon and scooped up some applesauce. He then pulled it back like a catapult, but when he released nothing happened. Then he looked at his spoon, the applesauce had been frozen onto the mini-catapult.

"Just cause my eyes are closed doesn't mean I'm vulnerable. Remember that." Styx said with his eyes still closed, arms folded across his chest and tipping back in his chair slightly. Knox looked at the frozen applesauce and simply put the spoon down in defeat. Everyone sat in silence waiting for the food to be ready, when over the sound of flipping pancakes one word could be heard clearly.

"Bastard!" The word carried down the stairs and four pairs of eyes were looking at the ceiling.

"Must be those nightmares again. She's been getting them more and more frequently." Nyx said as he returned to cooking.

"Any idea why? I mean, we know why Trix has 'em" Knox said staring sadly at the table.

"Sometimes, when I can't sleep I listen at her door, but everything she says is so jumbled up. It's hard to make any sense out of it." Trix said as a figure dressed in all black stumbled into the door. Echo's long black hair was pulled back off her face into a low ponytail, and her pale blue eyes had anger settled deep into them.

"I just _love _to be the topic of discussion at the breakfast table," Echo said sarcastically, and took a seat next to Styx," And from now on, I would like my personal life to stay personal. Is that understood?"

Styx nodded slightly, Trix looked guiltily at her clean plate,and Nyx set a large stack of pancakes down on the table and quietly said," As you wish," then sat in his own chair. Knox decided to be smart about it.

"Okay, _Mom_. Have it your way." he said sarcastically.

"Normally I would slit your throat for such a smart assed comment, but unfortunately I don't have a spoon yet." Echo says without any signs of a bluff, no smile, no sign in her voice saying she wouldn't do it. Then she got up, grabbed some silverware and a plate, and sat back down.

"Why do things always dissolve into fights and death threats when everyone is in a room together? If mom and dad were here we wouldn't be fighting, we would be happy. We should all be happy." Trix said with tears in her eyes. Echo tapped the end of her fork rapidly on the table, her jaw was tense.

" Why does everyone tell me to be happy all the time!Whose business is it? I'll be pissy if I want to, dammit!" Echo slid back in her chair, then stabbed the table with the fork as she stood and left.

"Well, if that isn't normal, I don't know what is." Knox said and took five pancakes off the stack and started drowning them in syrup.

"This coming from the King of Random." Styx says as he decides he doesn't want pancakes and gets a bowl of cereal.

" Why do I even make breakfast for everyone, when only three of us eat it in the end?" Nyx asks as he dumps applesauce into a small bowl.

"Because I'm a bottomless pit that can't cook." Knox replies in between mouthfuls.

"And because I tell you to." Trix adds with a sugar coated smile. Nyx looks at his baby sister in disbelief.

"How can such a sweet child be so evil?" He wonders aloud.

"She's female, that's how." Styx says sitting back down.

"What's wrong with being cute _and _bossy?" Trix asks while suppressing a smile.

"Nothing, until you're like Echo; then every thing's wrong with it." Knox says stabbing the last of his pancakes with his fork.

"About that, what could have happened to her that causes her to act like she does? I mean, I try to shut things out when I'm training or sparring, but it's all there. We've lost our parents and we can't stop feeling," Styx slams the side of his fist on the table, "I want to stop feeling."

"Styx, if you stop feeling you stop living,and you I won't let you kill yourself like that.," Nyx paused for a moment before continuing, "I have no clue what could have happened to her. Echo's life before Trix found her is a mystery." Nyx said taking a drink of milk.

"And she's definitely older than us." Knox says as he dumps raspberry jam on a new set of pancakes.

"Why do you think that? Isn't she sixteen like you three?" Trix asks the triplets. Nyx laughs a bit.

"She's right, if Echo _was _older than us then she would have more of a sense of responsibility," he frowns, " I mean seriously, the only thing she cleans is her room, and that's usually really clean."

"Actually, I agree with Knox," Styx says pouring another bowl of cereal," There's no way you can have such an awareness and control of your powers at our age. Echo's the one who trains _us,_ she's constantly pushing us to see our potential, and if she has the ability to train three different Elementals and a Healer with different learning methods then she's had to of been through many kinds of training herself."

"Wait, go back to the part where you agree with Knox." Trix says with a baffled frown.

"Yeah, you never agree with me. Usually you're the one who says I'm stupid and a bad influence on Trix."Knox says with a mouthful of pancakes and jam.

"You actually listen to me?" Styx asks in disbelief, "Anyway, yes, I agree with him. Knox is an idiot, but he does have some sparks of intelligence every once in a while."

"Ha! You just said I'm smart! You admitted it! Now can't never call me stupid again!" Knox exclaimed, and almost knocked over his chair when he started to dance around.

"Sit back down, I said 'sparks', and sparks fade and die quickly." Then seeing his brother fall heavily back into his chair started to wonder how many of Knox's actions were his way of dealing with the murders.

"I thought I told you guys to stop talking about me." Everyone in the room jumped and looked at Echo.

"We weren't talking about you, we were talking about how smart I am!" Knox said a bit too quickly.

"I'm not stupid Knox." She said in a bored tone.

"You've been there for awhile haven't you?" Nyx asks in a please-don't-kill-me tone. Echo taps the side of her katana sheath on her shoulder and glares.

" I didn't know my age was a big deal, especially since age is just a human measure of time. Now if you have a problem with me training you, then I suggest you tell me now, because I thought that I was helping you get stronger, which is what I thought you wanted," Echo waits for someone to say something, then mutters, "I'll be training." She walks back out of the room and a few seconds later they heard the back door slam.

"Since I like my head on my shoulders, I'm going to respect her demands." Styx says as he puts his bowl in the sink.

"Old people are bossy," Trix says as she puts her plate in the sink too.


	2. Visitor

Author Speak: Here's chapter two of the improved version.

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho does not belong to me, Zel belongs to wonderful _Inuyasha_ writer SilentDignity. All else is mine. Read and review, flames accepted.

Echo had found it hard to concentrate the last few days. Her past was screaming in her mind, and the face of all her suffering laughed at her every time she blinked. It was driving her insane. The dreams Echo had were of people she had betrayed and demons she didn't even know. No matter how bad she felt and wished she could fix it, the dreams, the screams, never left her mind. After Echo was brought to live with the rest of the Takuya family, she spent her time trying to train them so they could correct the wrongs done to their family. She had heard Styx on many occasions claim revenge for their parents, but she feared that no matter the training she gave him, he wouldn't be able to take the murderers life. Then, she thought of Trix, Echo thought of all the potential the young Healer had, but she just goofed off with Knox. Even though he was obnoxious, Knox was actually helping his family more then they knew. He kept non-sense mixed in with the cruelty of their position, Trix would have been a mess after seeing the murder if Knox's innocent jokes hadn't kept her optimistic.

Echo sat in front of a large boulder, legs crossed, meditating as well as she could, as a skinny figure moved silently through the trees closer to her. The figure stopped as Echo surrounded the boulder in shadows, it was a second too late for the figure to jump completely out of the way of the flying rock. It hit the person and sent it flying backwards, even though it didn't crush them. Echo quickly cloaked herself in shadows, she couldn't identify the person's energy, and if anyone could recognize her it could mean trouble. She stood in front of the persons sprawled body, as a mass of shadows, "Who are you?" She asked in a cold, emotionless voice. The figure jumped up swiftly as it heard she was so close. The girls eyes looked blind, pale, milky violet, no sign of a pupil. Her hair was long, stringy, washed out blond. She wore a black trench coat over a black corset, with plain black cargo pants and loosely tied army boots. She laughed slightly before speaking.

"Didn't expect that. Knew you could do it, just didn't think you would."

"You didn't answer my question. Who are you and why are you here?" Echo demanded, losing patience.

"He said you lose control quickly, anyway, I'm am just a messenger. I was sent to invite you to this years Dark Tournament." She said with a grin on her face that Echo wanted to rip off right there.

"Who sent you?"

"He hoped he wouldn't be so easily forgotten, you haven't spoke to him in two years, but you should remember him just the same," the girl turned and started walking away, "Oh, and if you don't show, he said that you will start to have a much harder time hiding from Spirit World." The girl kept walking, and when she was out of sight, Echo could hear a shriek from the girl, "Squirrel! Get back here so I can riddle you with holes!" after this shout a series of gunshots were heard.

"Echo?" A cold voice questioned from nearby. The shadows around Echo dispersed.

"Yes Styx?" she asked as if nothing had happened, although inside her mind she was screaming.

"You're hiding from Spirit World?"

"No, but it was a threat that I will need to if I don't go." She lied partially.

"To the Dark Tournament?"  
"Yes."

"You know my brothers and I have your back, we'll crush the asshole who's threatening you." Echo smiled weakly, not looking at him. Styx on the other hand was caught off guard. Echo was _smiling,_ and it wasn't a murderous smile like normal, it was a sincere smile, and it had him worried.

"You came out here to spar didn't you?" asks Echo in a voice barely her own. Styx merely nods, "Okay, well, it seems I need to sign up for the tournament."

"Go ahead and sign us up, too, I'll tell them it was my idea." He said.

"Okay, we'll spar when I get back," Again, he only nods. Echo turns and starts running off in roughly the same direction the messenger went. Styx turned and went back to the house to tell his brothers what he had gotten them into.

Echo didn't get back until very late that night, Trix was asleep on the couch and the triplets were in the kitchen discussing what they knew about the Dark Tournament. Carefully, Echo picked up the twelve year old and quietly walked up the stairs to Knox's room and laid her down under his covers.

For two years, Trix has snuck into Knox's room, because she felt safe with him, and her nightmares made it hard for her to sleep. Knox didn't mind, if anything it made him feel special because he didn't think of himself to be the type to calm people's nerves.

When Echo walked into the kitchen, the triplets stopped talking and looked at her.

"What? Did something horribly grotesque start growing on my face while I was gone?" she said in an irritated tone.

"No, we just recall the tournament requiring five members. We wondered who our fifth one was." Nyx Echo predicted what their reaction would be when she told them, so she changed the subject.

"Knox, I put Trix in your room, she was asleep on the couch, and we'll talk about the tournament tomorrow. It's one in the morning, we need sleep." She could tell they didn't like that answer, but she also knew they wouldn't ask for a better one until morning. Styx knew something was up, Echo only ignored questions when it might get her into trouble. Slowly each of them, got up and went to bed.

It was late at night, but Koenma had to figure out why the blond had told him that he would be surprised by the participants in the Dark Tournament. This Tournament was a lot smaller then the last, only five teams had signed up so far, and only one more could. Koenma had looked each of the demons over, looking for any sign of what the strange girl had been talking about. The only oddity he had come across so far was the combination of Jin, Touya, and Shura on the same team as the strange blond girl who had given him the weird tip, also on that team was an unknown demon named Zel, but he seemed pretty plain. Then he saw the picture of the last team, Team Echo. Each team that signed up for the tournament had to send in a photo for security reasons. All the other teams had separate photos for each member, but not Team Echo, four of the members where in the same picture, a fifth person must have taken the photo. It showed triplets with brownish hair and a girl with long black hair. The girl was holding one of the boys down on a couch and pressing a spoon against his throat. Another of the triplets watched helplessly as the third went for the camera with a cold expression on his face. The second photo was discarded as Koenma found what the blind looking girl had meant. It had taken two years of tracking her down, and someone just gave her to him. He had been waiting for the chance to arrest her for several years before she went into hiding. He wasn't letting this opportunity go.


	3. Bleach Adventure

Author Speak: Hey! Chapter three, back online! Wow, I'm am seriously happier with the edits I've made, I think I'll edit every chapter I make from now on like I did the rest of my story. Maybe there's a reason SilentDignity says I need to edit more...Nah! (LoL jk) I think that in this or the next chapter, that you'll really see some changes and new additions.

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho is not mine, if it was I would have way more YYH based stuff then I do now. Zel belongs to awesome friend and _Inuyasha_ writer SilentDignity because she is the only person who could come up with such genius-ness, all other characters are mine, so read and review or I'll send Knox to your door to plague you for eternity. Flames accepted. :D

Nyx was sleeping peacefully in his room until he could hear crashes downstairs. Looking at his alarm clock, he saw it had only been three hours since everyone went to bed, meaning four in the morning. Surely Styx and Knox weren't fighting already? Grabbing his throwing axes on his way out of his room, Nyx slowly and quietly crept downstairs. As he peeked around the kitchen doorway, he saw something he never thought he'd see, definitely not to this extreme. Echo was crouched on the counter, throwing open cabinets and throwing just about everything in them onto the floor. After getting everything out of the cabinets, she gave up and jumped off the counter. Then, she walked right past Nyx and into the laundry room, where she started to pull everything out of the few cabinets in there.

"Echo, may I ask what's going on here without you threatening me with silverware or something like it?" asked a very confused Nyx.

"Where in the seventh layer of hell do you put the _bleach, _Nyx?" she asked angrily. Nyx pointed to the dryer where the container of bleach sat on top. Echo grabbed it and started up the stairs where Knox and Trix were coming down.

"What are you doing with all that bleach?" Trix asked, looking at Echo suspiciously. Knox was yawning with his arms stretched up into the air.

"I'm going to bleach my hair, it has to be white." Echo said with a tone in her voice that you could tell she wasn't all in her head at that moment.

"Well," Trix said as she carefully pulled the bleach from Echo's grasp, "Bleach isn't meant for hair. Let's try lemon juice instead." Trix went around Echo and Nyx and set the bleach back on the dryer.

Echo squinted her eyes as she followed the young girl into the kitchen, "Don't you use that on food?" Trix nodded. "I'm not putting anything edible in my hair, Knox might try to eat it."

" No I wouldn't! I don't even like lemons," Knox says and crosses his arms like a five year old.

"That's a lie and you know it." Nyx said to his brother as Trix pulled the lemon juice from the fridge, completely ignoring the mess all around her.

"Now, all you have to do is put this on the part you want lightened, leave it in, wash it out it the morning and you should be all set." Trix told the older girl. She wondered why Echo wanted to lighten her hair at such an early hour, but knew better than to ask.

"How do you know that?" Knox asked his sister, "I mean, you haven't tried it, have you?" Knox stepped around Echo and started to mess with Trix's hair, trying to find where she might have used lemon juice to lighten it.

"Knox, back off! You're so irritating sometimes. Every girl knows that trick!" Trix says, shoving her brother off.

"Every girl but Echo..." Knox says tapping his chin like he was in deep thought, then he grabbed a spatula and held it up to Echo like a microphone, "Care to explain why you don't know what you should know?"

"No," Echo said and went upstairs.

"I can't believe Baby Breath signed us up for another Dark Tournament. He promised that the first was going to be the last." Yusuke Urameshi complained to his teammates.

"Koenma seemed to be sending us there, not to fight, but to be a controlling hand." Kurama said, looking over his book briefly. Botan came in from the hallway.

"Bingo." the mint haired girl said as she tossed a folder onto the coffee table.

"So the toddler wants us to babysit a large group of demons? Has he gone completely insane?" Hiei asks from the window sill.

"Oh no, that _would_ be insane. He only wants you to watch one demon, _This _demon to be specific." Botan said as she pulled out a picture.

"Uh, Botan, which one?" The thick skulled Kuwabara said as he stared at the picture of a group of demons.

"The one holding a spoon." She said.

"A spoon? Why would we have to babysit a demon that uses a spoon?" Hiei said in a irritated voice.

"At least she's civilized enough to use silver wear," Kurama added with a laugh.

"I'm not sure Hiei, Koenma's been acting very strangely, but I know it's very important that this demon doesn't leave the tournament." Botan said looking at the photo in front of them.

"If he wants her dead, all he had to do was say so." Hiei said, and Kurama could tell that he was trying to hide his interest.

"I'm not sure that was what he meant." Botan said slowly.

"You're really out of the loop this time, aren't you?" Yusuke snorted.

"Yeah, usually you know every detail, well, every detail Koenma knows at least. Now that I think about it, you probably know more than I do about most things." Kuwabara said, the look on his face saying he seriously thought himself smarter.

"Kuwabara, you're an idiot, you always have been, nothing changed. Everybody always knows more then you." Yusuke says, as he throws a pillow at Kuwabara.

"You may find, Yusuke, that Kuwabara is smarter than you think." Kurama said with a barely masked chuckle.

"Yeah, and we'll also find that Yusuke is more of a jackass than we thought possible." Hiei replied in monotone.

"Bring it on Shorty!" Yusuke growled, pushing up his sleeves.

"Stop. Save it for the tournament!" Botan said quickly and made fervent gestures for Yusuke to sit down.

For once, Nyx felt completely lost, Knox was oblivious and Styx was still asleep. Trix had her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, which was odd. She hadn't put it up for two years. Trix flew into the kitchen and grabbed toast out of Knox's hands, he didn't really notice and started devouring his cereal.

"Trix, what's going on?" Nyx inquired of his sister. The guilty, fearful look on her face was startling, "Trix, what's that face for?".

Her eyes widened as she heard Echo's footsteps come down the stairs, "What face?" She asked quickly and darted out of the kitchen, waving a quick "good bye" to her two brothers. Knox waves to his sister and mumbled something into his cereal right before Echo calmly walked in the door; her hair was really different and it looked strange on her. Her once all black waist length hair had been cut and lightened. She still wore a low ponytail that was completely black, but she now had long bangs that framed her face and were completely white. She seemed insane when looking for the bleach, but now she was as cool as ever. Nyx couldn't understand why she had to have her hair like this.

"Echo, maybe you could shed some light on a couple of things for me," Nyx said. Echo merely looked at him from the corner of her eye. "First, I'll start simple, who's our fifth member? We deserve to know." Echo looked away and at the floor. Knox had even stopped eating, mid-bite,and was listening intently. Echo's face got more and more grim the longer she stared at the floor. Then her eyes moved up to Nyx's, "Nyx, you trust me right, and my judgment?" The tone and pleading look in her eyes caught Nyx off guard, he could only nod. "Then trust me when I say we have a great fifth member, they'll be there the whole way and more help then we realize."

Nyx narrowed his eyes, that wasn't an exact answer. "You're not going to give a name are you?"

Echo shook her head, "If you want to find out before the tournament you'll have to find out by some other means."

"Fine, we'll play it this way. Now, for some other questions. Why did you wake us all up at four in the morning to find bleach?"

"I told you, I had to make my hair white."

"Why did it have to be white?"

"Because his is black. Now let's change topics, unless you're done with questions." Echo crossed her arms and gave off every body signal that she didn't want to talk about her hair choices anymore.

"Okay, do you know why Trix was acting so squirrelly?" Nyx asked. He thought Echo might have something to do with it because Trix left rather quickly when Echo started down the stairs. Echo's head popped up and her mouth was open a bit.

"Sorry, got to go. I forgot, I'm completely worthless! How could I forget that?" And she ran out the door.

"I'm scared, am I dreaming? If I am, can I pinch you?" Knox asked with his mouth full.

"I think you've got it backwards, but I don't think you,re dreaming. What do you say we go 'explore' for a bit?" Nyx's curiosity wouldn't let him let this go.


	4. Cat Fight

Author Speak: Wow, I've written a lot, but it doesn't seem like much when you can put it in about six chapters... Although I do try to make each chapter two in a half to three pages long in NeoOffice. So in theory, I should have six chapters with just what I have written now... Theories always backfire when I think of them... Anyway...

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho is NOT mine, if I were to claim ownership of these characters, I would be forced by the lawyers of the real owners to endure a "Dragon of the Darkness Flame" attack from Hiei. Zel is the sole property of SilentDignity, I have been blessed with permission to use this twisted character to do my bidding, fot that, I bow at her feet. All of the other people have come from my mind, and boy oh boy are there plenty of them... I DON"T NEED THIS MANY CHARACTERS! BUT THEY SAY THEY'LL KILL ME IF I DON'T ADD THEM! Plus, it just fits together so well! Anywho, Read, review, flame if you must.

"I'm having trouble understanding why we're out here in the middle of some forest hunting down a couple of freaks when we could be training for Baby Breath's tournament." Yusuke asked as his team ran through a forest looking for some sort of demonic disturbance.

"Maybe you need to look at this as a form of training, Yusuke." Kurama replied quietly to his left.

Hiei was following in the trees above them until he sensed something the spirit detective did not. He quickly jumped down to them and nodded which direction they should head. The four of them turned off in that direction, lead by the quiet fire youkai.

When the group stopped, they saw trees with massive claw marks in them, branches and torn bushes everywhere. Yet, they did not expect to see a woman with tiger characteristics to run out of the brush toward them in a frantic fashion. Her skin was covered in tiger stripped fur, a three foot tail extended from her spine. Her legs were more feline, she was running on her toes, and her face was a mix between human and tiger. Her ears, nose, muzzle and teeth were more tiger-like, but the eyes and overall shape was human. Her waist length orange hair matched her skin, and was brushed off of her face. The group in front of her moved into fighting stances.

"You must help me, it's my sister, she's trying to kill me!" Her voice was scratchy and she rolled her 'r's. She ran behind Kurama and cowered. Yusuke and Kurama exchanged glances. There was more to this than a sibling fight.

Not long after the tiger girl hid behind Kurama, a panther charged from the brush and stopped extremely quickly when it saw the group of fighters. It scanned the group in front of it, then saw her prey, the tiger girl. It lunged forward, and in mid-jump, turned into a black panther version of the tiger girl. The rest of the group had no clue what to do. Kurama took on a defensive position and prepared for impact, it didn't come. The panther girl jumped and flipped over Kurama, facing her tiger counterpart. Kurama turned and jumped out of the way as the panther girl pinned her sister to the ground forcefully. The panther used her claw-like fingernails to slash at her prey until her arms were bound together with Kurama's rose whip.

"Damn you and your cohorts, Iza!" The panther girl spat as Kurama pulled her off. The tiger girl, Iza, got back on her feet, and put a confused look on her face. The spirit detectives moved into a circle around the two.

"This is pretty weird, huh, Urameshi?" Kuwabara said as he looked from cat girl to cat girl.

"Yeah, Kurama, do you know what's going on here?"Yusuke asked he had no clue what to do. It's not like Koenma had told the team to capture, fight, or do anything with this problem, so they had to work it out themselves.

Kurama shook his head. There was no way to tell what was going on without asking, and these two seemed pretty stubborn.

"This is simple, just kill them both, problem solved." Hiei said coldly as he drew his sword. The panther girl freaked out and started struggling even harder against her bonds. The more she fought the less panther-like she seemed, her tail disappeared, her legs took regular form, the fur receded and skin appeared even her face started looking human,her eyes showing a clear blue. Her clothes were all black from what they could tell. Black baggy pants, black t-shirt, and a black baseball cap worn backwards over chin length black hair.

"Let go of me, or you'll regret it! Iza, I'll kill you if your friends get any closer." The squirming girl exclaimed, fear evident in her voice.

"To tell you the truth, I don't know any of these people, especially the humans." Iza said as she too took on her full human form. White tank top, blue jeans and her hair falling into her eyes. The young panther's eyes widened.

"You must listen to me! Iza has been helping a powerful demon named Ezra. He plans to overthrow Spirit World Power," She stopped to breathe, and to see Iza's reaction.

"Oh no, dear baby sister, you have such a narrow mind, he's already ruled the world several times before, and this time he's making sure everyone knows it. I've just chosen the winning side." Iza smirked. The Spirit Detectives couldn't believe their ears, this Iza was calm about the destruction of balance. Kurama loosened the binds around the young panther, little by little.

"You're blind Iza! He's only using you, you're only his pawn. Like others before you, you are nothing to him. He'll lead you to your death!" The girl slowly rose to her feet, feeling the vines loosen. _Maybe these people are on my side,_ she thought hopefully. Iza's eyes widened as she took into mind the faces of the people around her.

"Jeza, you're damned lucky. You have found allies, that I cannot harm." She looked behind her to see Hiei with his hand on his hilt. Kurama's rose whip fell away from Jeza completely as she looked at her current allies, nothing clicked in her mind. She looked as her sister quizzically. "Come now, baby sister, say 'hello' to team Urameshi. Victors of the last Dark Tournament. I'm not allowed to harm them, orders from Ezra. They have to be fit to take down an old friend of his."

"Who is this Ezra?" Hiei asks from from behind her.

"The perfect mastermind."

"Where is he?" Kurama asks.

"Everywhere there is to be."

"Cut the creepy crap, Lady!" Yusuke yells at the tall woman in the center of the circle.

"What about our brother, Iza?" Jeza asked in a pleading tone,"Don't you remember? He died to protect us, so we could help the world, not destroy it."

"I'd love to live in you Gumdrop Fantasy for even a day Jeza, but you really need to wake up. This world is corrupting itself, Ezra's the one fixing the mess we've created."

"I'm tired of listening to you try to justify your actions Iza!" Jeza sprang forward with cat-like grace and speed. Iza took her sister's attack head on and landed on her back, then flipped Jeza over Hiei and into the bushes behind him.

"This brings another meaning to 'Cat fight' huh, Urameshi?" Kuwabara sniggers to his teammate. Iza turned to face Hiei, yet, she made no move to attack; Kurama did. His whip lashed out at her back. Cat reflexes moved her out of the way, moments before the strike would have hit.

"I told you, fox, I'm not allowed to fight you." She growled fiercely.

"Then fight _me_ Iza, I owe it to Izak to stop you." Jeza emerged from the fall with a scythe in her hands, "And Tasukeru will help me." She stepped forward, back into the clearing.

"Where the hell did she get that thing?" Yusuke asks from the sidelines.

" I dropped him earlier in our fight. Sorry about that, Tasukeru." She replies to Yusuke, and apologizes to her weapon.

"I find it silly how you name your weapons, and talk to them as if they have personalities. Besides, it's never crossed your mind that our brother Izak died because he was weak, has it? Weakness you seem to have picked up, by the way." Iza was smirking, she had caused her sister to falter.

"You're wrong, Izak was stronger than you realize. He was just killed by someone stronger then he could handle," The young girl's eyes closed as she remembered that night. The cold blue eyes that showed no emotion as their body threw her brother around like a doll, "You don't remember, you got hit on the head by part of the ceiling."

"I remember waking up to him being dead, and that's all that matter's. He wasn't strong enough to survive, and now I'm proving that I'm better than him by succeeding where he failed." Iza sunk into a fighting stance, her body low to the ground. Jeza held Tasukeru tightly as she willed herself to attack the only family she had left. Both girls were thrown back by torrents of wind, falling on their behinds. Even the detectives had to throw their arms up to protect their faces against the wind grabbing at their clothes. The wind calmed down as a thin girl set foot into the clearing. Golden hair fell down her back, her turquoise eyes looked at Iza coldly. She was clothed in a white Roman style dress that left her dragonfly wings undisturbed. A serpent made of water seemed to wait for the new girl's orders while it circled around her.

"What are you doing here, you useless scum?" Iza spat coldly at the girl. The detectives didn't know how to react to this newcomer, is she friend or foe? Jeza sprang up and was instantly on defense. The winged girl just gestured roughly with her hands in a 'come on', motion. She seemed sad, and had an obvious distaste for Iza, even though she was gesturing to her, "What? I'm not going anywhere with you, you're pathetic, that's why he's not letting you go, cause you can't break free on your own." Iza knew she was hitting a nerve. The girl just folded her arms across her chest and set her jaw, wings fluttering irritatedly. Her serpentine pet, on the other hand, hissed and snapped at the tiger. That seemed to get Iza's attention; she got up and glared reproachfully at the girl. Shouldering passed the angry girl, Iza shouted to her sister, "You're lucky Ezra's pulling me back, it's allowing you to continue your pathetic existence."

"Do we go after them?" Kuwabara asked his teammates as the winged girl and Iza left. Hiei shrugged.

"No, don't bother, it'd be more trouble than it's worth. Besides, you have questions, and I'm willing to answer what I can. Also, I'm hoping you could help me take down Iza and Ezra." Jeza said as she bowed, a sign of friendliness.

Light purple hair obscured a young demons view as she stumbled along the empty streets. Confusion and curiosity pushed her forward, although her ribs ached and her head pounded with pain. Dirt stung the cuts along her arms,legs and a couple on her face. When she tried to think, her mind was blank, no memories, no thought other then, _why_ ?She could think of no one to turn to, no where to go, nothing at all. No comforting face came to mind. She tripped off a curb and added a few more scrapes to her existing ones. She almost gave up entirely, wanting to just lay on the refreshingly cold street forever. But she slowly dragged herself up onto her feet and continued to walk into the city.


	5. Rubberbands

Author Speak: Welcome to the humble abode of Chapter Five! ... And that's about it...

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho... NOT MINE! Zel...NOT MINE! Everything else... MINE! Zel is SilentDignity's who writes an awesome Sessy fanfic, and it's not all fangirly either! Isn't that unique? I thought so... Anyway, several of the ideas in this story were spawned by chats with SilentD, I have started saving them so I can refer back to them whenever the heck I want.

Dang, five chapters in and we're not even close to hitting the tournament... Oh dear. This story may last a while! That's unacceptable! Just Kidding. I hope this lasts a long time, maybe even sequel material! Who knows for sure? Read, Review, Flame if you desire.

Tired and drained, Echo followed Trix back into the house. It was late afternoon now and the triplets had been up to something other than their regular fighting. Trix slowly went up the stairs, just as tired as Echo. The thoughts that Echo had of a warm shower and nap were rudely interrupted by a fist slamming into her jaw. Her back hit the closed door and Echo slumped onto the floor. She was to physically drained to do anything about it.

An angry voice penetrated Echo's mind, "You bitch," it said coldly. Then a sensation of pain jolted through the other side of her jaw. _Styx_, she finally realized, and tried to open her eyes enough to see him.

"You twisted bitch," he said again as he lifted her up by her sweaty tank top and took another swing at her. His punch was stopped short; Nyx had come into the room unnoticed.

"For crying out loud Styx, get a hold of yourself. Shit, she's going unconscious," He said as Echo's head fell forward, "Knox! Get in here, Echo's hurt."

"She deserves worse," Styx muttered as he let Echo fall.

"Styx, what are you doing?" Trix exclaimed as renewed energy propelled her down the stairs; she knelt at the fallen girl's side.

"What happened?" Knox asked from the kitchen doorway.

"Styx decided to smack Echo around a bit. Trix, what were you two doing? I've never seen her go down like that before." Nyx questioned.

"We were trying a different training technique, she had me just flat out attack her for hours. She said that it should raise my energy levels and hopefully help my other powers come out." She answered, and looked down at Echo, slumped next to her.

"You sure this had nothing to do with the fact Echo signed Trix up for the tournament without our permission?" Knox asks slowly. Fists tightening, Styx readies another strike at Echo, but his sister moves into the way.

"You jerk!" Trix accuses her older brother, "Did you ever think that I could help you? No! You just over protect me, like usual, and you stop Echo from training me as hard as she trains you." As Trix yelled at her brothers, Echo slowly sat up against the door. Her eyes closed, and some blood sliding down the side of her mouth; she started trying to understand the words coming from the mouths around her.

Knox laughed, "I think it's great you're coming with us, great experience." Styx threw him a dirty look.

"Trix, we just don't want you to get hurt. You're our baby sister..." Nyx trailed off.

"You guys, I put her on the team for a reason, she's a great healer, and she still has great powers to unleash." Echo voiced as she tried using the wall to support herself.

"Still, Echo, you should have asked us," Nyx said quietly.

"How'd you guys find out?" Echo asked curiously.

"You left these on your dresser, in plain sight," Nyx pulled out a copy of the tournament sign-up list.

Echo nodded, "Of course. Nice punches, Styx, use that emotion in our training from now on."

Styx pushed past his sister and pinned Echo to the door by her throat, "Training is all that matters to you, isn't it? My sister could have died, going into that tournament without a clue, without our help. You're a clueless bitch."

"Styx, watch the language around Trix," Nyx cautioned.

"There you go again! I'm not a little girl, talk however you damn well please!" Trix screamed at Nyx. A small projectile hit Trix's forehead as she finished her outburst.

Trix grabbed her forehead and sat down in childish defeat.

"One down, one to go," Knox said as he pulled another rubber band from his pocket. This one he aimed at his brother, Styx, who was still pinning Echo to the door by her throat, "Readying!" He shouted as he pulled back.

Styx looked back slightly to see what his brother was doing, "Knox don't test me right now," he intoned fiercely.

"FIRE!" Knox released his rubber bullet with a yell, and at that moment shadows shoved Styx off of Echo. She leaned forward to slowly fall into a standing position, where she swayed uncertainly as Styx stood back up. Knox was cackling at his insane genius mind. Echo stopped swaying and her arms were resting limply as her sides, head hung.

Nyx turned and gave a confused glare at Knox, "I wanted you to come in here and help Echo with her injuries, not shoot at us with rubber bands,"

Knox looked at him seriously, "I _am_ helping her, can't you tell?" He gestures to Echo, who hasn't moved yet.

"Not really," Trix says as she waves her hand in front of Echo's face, "She's not doing anything..." She trails off.

"Well, she's still standing," Nyx said observantly, and moves to her side, "I think she unconscious."

"Nah, unconscious is too much work, she's sleeping," Knox concludes as he twists three rubber bands together and aims them at Echo, "Here, I'll prove it." On command, the rubber bands fly forward and hit Echo in the collarbone with a "thud". Echo mumbles inaudibly.

"Ow, that's got to hurt," Trix says staring at the red spot forming on Echo's chest and rubbing her own collarbone.

"Echo? Did you say something?" Nyx asks Echo trying to catch what she's saying.

"I don't need reminders of the past, Ezra, I live with the memories everyday." Echo told the floor, then her head snapped up and her eyes were wide. Styx had cooled down and was now glaring at the scene with steady eyes. Echo's eyes flew face to face like wildfire, then she took a step toward the stairs like a frantic rabbit.

She ran up the stairs and yelled back at them, "I need to be alone for a while, I ask you to not follow me. I really am sorry about the tournament." She disappeared from view.

"What, follow her to her room?" Styx said with a smart ass tone. Trix turned and looked at her brothers, Nyx and Styx were obviously wondering about Echo, but Knox seemed more interested in other thoughts.

"If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from ?" Knox asked his siblings as Echo came soaring down the stairs in a black, hooded trench coat that she hardly ever wore. She went straight to the door and flung it open, hood covering her eyes as she disappeared into the night.

"Are you getting the challenge you wish for, Ezra?"

"I remain hopeful, but what I want to know is why you aren't trying to stop me."

"Maybe, I'm looking for the same thing you are, a challenge."

"You think stopping me is too easy? Must I remind you, Isaiah, you've only defeated me once."

"Need I remind _you_, Ezra, that it was my first try at doing so? I'm only employing different methods this time around."

"Ever elusive, Isaiah, I've never actually known what you're up to until too late. But I think maybe you've let that small victory become your weakness."

"That's all you see, Ezra, weakness, and how to exploit it. You may find some weaknesses can become strengths,"

"If that's how you wish to see it,Isaiah."

"I want to know one thing,"

"And that is?"

"Does she know what awaits her at the tournament?"

"I believe we can only speculate what will happen there, we might be surprised."

"Come now, Ezra. You never speculate, you like to lead people around by their noses."

"Only because they're so willing to do my bidding. Even the young prince, Koenma. I expected more from him."

"I hope you fully understand what you are setting into motion."

"Oh, I understand perfectly. I'm letting Hell loose."


	6. Donatsu's the Greatest With Enthusiasm

Author Speak: Hmm, I'm at a loss for words, I don't know what I should say... Six Chapters and I'm already out of words. Not good, not good at all.

Disclaimers: Yu Yu Hakusho's loverly character's don't belong to me. Zel's maker is not me, but is SilentDignity. All other lame excuses of characters do sadly belong to me.

Read, Review, and don't feed the squirrels.

"Hey Keiko, have you seen my brother?" A tall brunette woman with a cigarette hanging from the corner of her mouth asked a young brunette who looked to be shopping for her family.

"Oh I'm sorry Shizuru, I haven't seen any of the boys for a couple of weeks. I'm trying not worry." Keiko replied as she looked at some fruit.

"That's the boys for ya' never thinking about who could be worrying about them." Shizuru muttered as she took a drag on her cigarette. Keiko turned to leave and the older woman followed her as they headed further into town.

"Atsuko says she not worried about Yusuke as long as he's alive." Keiko said with a slight laugh in her voice.

"That sounds like his mom's logic, although she doesn't show she loves him until he does die." Shizuru said as she looked up into the cloudless sky.

"Shizuru, who is that?" Keiko inquired about a teenaged-looking girl with light purple hair falling, unkept, into her eyes. She was sitting on the curb and hugging her knees. Keiko took another couple of steps toward the young girl when Shizuru lightly grabbed her shoulder.

"Be careful Keiko, she's a demon, but something is not right." The older girl whispered warningly. Keiko nodded and kept walking forward.

"Hey, I'm Keiko, are you ok?" She asked as she held a hand out the the girl. The purpled haired girl jumped and stared at Keiko's hand like she had never seen one before. Scratches ran along the girls cheeked, dirt ground into them. Slowly she looked Keiko in the face.

"I don't think I am, but I'm not sure." she said slowly, Shizuru thought the tone sounded like that of a child.

"Do you need help?" Keiko asked uncertainly.

"Is help bad?" The girl asked Keiko, it was strange, almost as if this girl really had the mind of a child and questioned everything.

"No, help is good, what's your name?" Shizuru asked, she wondered what was going on.

"'Help is good'," The girl repeated quietly, "I don't know my name." She said, still clinging to her knees.

"What do you mean 'You don't know'?" Keiko asked.

"Just that. I don't remember my name, or really anything for that matter." She said and gave a sad smile.

Shizuru had an idea, "Hey, Keiko, the safest place I think there is for her is Genkai's, at least until we figure out what's going on."

Keiko brightened, "Yeah! Hey, would you mind coming with us? We want to help you get to were you need to be. We're taking to you see a powerful psychic." Keiko put her hand out again. The girl looked at Keiko's hand for a few seconds before unwrapping her arms from her bleeding knees. As she took Keiko's hand, the two humans noticed her black shirt was torn and covered in dirt, her blue jeans were torn at the knees and covered in blood.

Shizuru knew this young woman had been in a fight, how could she not when she used to see the aftermath of the beatings Yusuke gave Kazuma all the time. Keiko pretended not to notice the injuries, and started for Genkai's.

The death of her brother made Jeza stronger as a person and as a fighter. She had a reason to live, to bring her shattered family back together and to avenge the wrongs done to her and others.

"Nice try with that leg sweep, but you might try not using such a large arc, Jeza." Yusuke commented from the sidelines as Kurama and her sparred in a large, dirt ring, the edges were marked by logs. Kurama's whip was expertly twisting around the ring, trying to catch the energetic panther. Jeza leapt backward and pulled a necklace with a fang on it free of her neck. It transformed instantaneously into her scythe, Tasukeru, and she brought it up just in time to block Kurama's Rose Whip from becoming a tight choker on her throat. Jeza saw her opening and her scythe quickly became a necklace again as she jumped forward, sliding easily into her panther form. Kurama couldn't use the whip as effectively at close range, and switched to the offensive. He maneuvered to the right and tried to gain distance from the feline, but her mobility was greater than his. Jeza pounced on her prey and pinned him to the ground. Kurama struggled in vain against the massive paws on his shoulders.

"Nice weapon, Jeza! Where'd you get it?" Yusuke asked about the scythe.

"It's made from one of my own fangs, a weapon master was experimenting and I said he could use a fang or two. He let me keep the result, and since then, Tasukeru and I have been partners!"

"Impressive fighting, maybe you should join the team for the tournament," said Koenma, who was standing near Yusuke.

"Really? My sister said something about attending it, I'll have another chance to change her mind about Ezra. Besides Tasukeru and I think we can trust you. You all are very goodhearted, we'd be honored to fight with you." Jeza says as she went back to her human form and helped Kurama to his feet.

"I thought Genkai was going to be on our team." Yusuke questioned the toddler sized ruler next to him.

"She was, I think Genkai would make a powerful alternate. I don't think she'll mind," Koenma said nonchalantly.

Botan bolted from the forest, and soared toward them on her oar. She jumped off when she reached Koenma.

"Koenma, sir, it's Genkai, she says Keiko and Shizuru found a demon wandering human world." Botan said in one breath.

"Where else would _those_ two find one, Botan? In Makai?" Koenma spat back, "Wait, how did this demon get into human world?"

"I'm not sure, sir." Botan told the young prince.

"Hey! Are Keiko and Shizuru okay?" Yusuke yelled at Botan.

"Yes, they're fine, the demon doesn't seem to be hostile." Botan said reassuringly.

"Well, looks like we're going to go see Genkai," Koenma said, then looked over at Jeza, "Would you like to come with us?" Jeza self-consciously rubbed her fang necklace before nodding.

"She has left the house," A stringy haired blond whispered into what looked like a flat polished stone.

"It works? I knew it would, see Ezra? I have made communication devices! Praise me! Marvel and bask in the almightiness that is my genius!" A

happy cheerful voice issued from the stone.

"Donatsu, quiet down! I am trying to hide ya' know," The blond hissed.

"Now, can this device of yours also show images?" A more bored voice asked.

"Of course! Why skip out on all the cool stuff?" The cheery voice asked indignantly.

"So what do you need an image for Ezra?" the blond inquired.

"Because I told you I need one." Ezra explained vaguely, this not being the first time he failed to elaborate.

"Right, so-" The girl started before she got cut off by Donatsu.

"Turn the side you're talking into toward the target and say, 'Donatsu is the Greatest'. And say it with some enthusiasm!" Pollo could just imagine Donatsu jumping around in pride for his ingenuity.

"Do I have to say that?" Pollo whined.

"Of course! It won't work any other way!" Donatsu shouted gleefully through

the stone. Pollo rolled her eyes and leapt from the tree. Her untied combat

boots hit the ground with a thud. Her trench coat flapped around her in the

breeze as she placed the rock in a pocket and drew her favorite pistol. Then set off at a run. Pollo came to a halt near the edge of the forest, _There's no way I missed her_.

"Why are you following me, Blondie?" A cold voice asked from behind her.

Reflexes took over Pollo as she spun around, her gun locked onto it's target instantly.

"My name is Pollo." She said smoothly.

"You work for Ezra, and that's enough motive for me to kill you." Echo spat, her white bangs hung freely in front of her hooded eyes.

"Well, you can't be on everybody's good side. Why'd you sign up for the tournament as Echo? That's not your real name," Pollo pulled the stone out of her pocket and faced it toward Echo, "Donatsu is the Greatest". Echo, looked at the stone quizzically, unsure of how to react,_ Donuts are the greatest?That sure doesn't look like a donut to me._

"Nothing happened, are you sure you did it right Homicidal Blond?" Ezra asked through the stone. Echo went into shock, even after two years she couldn't mistake that voice, she stood frozen,

"Ha ha ha! I'm sorry, I just wanted to hear her say it! The real word is 'butterfly'," Donatsu chuckled.

"You worthless scrap of brain!" Pollo screeched maniacally.

Ezra laughed slightly at this, "Just humor him."

Pollo growled under her breath, "Fine, Butterfly."

"Got it." Donatsu sang.

"Saiai, you've cut your beautiful hair, what is your reason for doing

so?" Ezra asked Echo calmly and quite amused through the stone. He already knew the answer. Echo visibly shivered at the use of her old nickname and the tone of his voice. Her hands curled into fists, her knuckles turned white, "Blond, your life is in danger, take care," Pollo promptly tucked the stone in her pocket and re-aimed her gun.

"Blondie, I have two words: One chance." Echo's voice was cold and furious, the shadows around her were stirring angrily.

Pollo cackled, her milky eyes bright with enjoyment, "You want me to

give up? Why should I? You are the one who's broken, the one who couldn't handle the guilt." Pollo sneered, a knowing smile fixed onto her face.

"You have no clue what you are getting into with Ezra." Echo countered.

"I know more now then you ever did, you were so blind. I know very well that he could care less about my welfare, and I don't care, I'm in this for_ me,_" Pollo altered her aim, "You never answered, why'd did you sign up as Echo? Trying to hide something?"Echo lowered her head.

"It's what I've become, an echo. It's all I hear, reverberating. It's all I see, broken mirrors. I have become what he made me, a lost and broken puppet. The revenge I seek is not mine alone, it's the will of the families destroyed by his command, and the pain of the loved ones left to struggle and grieve. I am the echo of a thousand voices." Echo spoke quietly but clearly. Pollo fired a shot at Echo's chest. Shadows converged around

Echo and she was gone. Pollo however knew she was still nearby.

"Yea, yea, nice speech and all but it doesn't really affect me, humanity is worthless, and my guilt left _me_ many years ago," Pollo breathed in the electric air and got even more excited, "Let's play a game! You run like the coward you are, and I hunt you down for the hell of it! If I catch you, I shoot you! How's that sound?" Pollo yelled out to the forest in front of her. No answer came to the crazed blond_. Well Ezra, I'm having fun, but I still_

_hope your plan works as well as you say it will. How long do I need to play "Whack an Echo"?_


End file.
